Should MAR be scaled back?

Author: Olly Jackson | Published: 3 Jan 2018

The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)
has reported a 77% increase in suspicious transaction and order
reports (STORs) since the Market Abuse
Regulation’s (MAR) entry into force in July
2016.

The implementation of new rules may have
had a direct impact on the huge uptick in the reporting of
issues such as insider dealing and market manipulation, leading
many market participants to label the new rules as too
punitive.

Most of the legal definitions under MAR remain the same as
before - under the 2003 Market Abuse Directive (MAD) - but the
regulation has widened the scope of firms that must comply with
the new rules. The scope of the reporting regime applies to the
cancellation, modification, placing and execution of orders and
transactions, and to attempted market abuse. The framework
applies to all trading venue operators and any person
professionally arranging or executing transactions - it clearly
prohibits manipulation of...